Faith and Love
by Lex Sparrow
Summary: Six months after the end of 'Truth or Consequences'. Lost time becomes harder to get back, old loves return to cause conflict, and the lives they've come to know start to fall apart as secrets come out threatening everything they've come to believe.
1. Chapter 1

**Faith and Love**

**By:** Lexxie Sparrow

**Summery:** Six months after the end of 'Truth or Consequences'. Lost time becomes harder to get back, old loves return to cause conflict, and the lives they've come to know start to fall apart as secrets come out threatening everything they've come to believe.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Degrassi. If I did Sean would be back by now in his nice army uniform….Sorry lost focus there for a minute. All I own are Mike, Alyssa, and Dan.

**Chapter 1**

"Jacob get under the Mustang! We got to get that one out of here ASAP!" Sean yelled to one of his crew men. It had been a little over five months since Jay and Manny had gotten back from their honeymoon and business had picked up drastically.

Within a week they had to hire at least five more guys to cover for all the customers coming into the shop. They had started coming from all over the place from what he had seen of the license plates. Some had come all the way from Vancouver and Alberta to have their cars repaired or customized.

"Two more guys just came in." Jay said coming up to him as he was working on the fuel system of a Civic someone had brought in that morning. "One wants his breaks checked and the other wants flames down the side of his car. I already sent him to Brian in back in the paint shop to talk colors. Both of them requested that it be done by one of us." he told Sean.

Sean sighed as he grabbed his watch off of the tool bench as he lowered the Civic back down. "I'm done with this one. I could probably take a look at the breaks. How late are you staying tonight?" he asked.

Jay shook his head. "I can't. Manny'll have my head if I'm not there for dinner tonight." he said as Sean chuckled.

"She's got you on a short leash now doesn't she?" Sean asked him smirking.

"There isn't anything wrong with it. Besides you know as well as I do that the short leash can feel very, very good." Jay grinned slyly.

Sean laughed as they heard someone enter the garage. They now only allowed employees back in the garage so it didn't get too crowded with everyone back there.

"Daddy!" he heard behind him and turned to see his twin son and daughter coming over to where he and Jay were.

He wrapped his arms around both Mike and Alyssa and picked them both up, something he had mastered during their first year. "What are you guys doing here? I thought I was picking you up from Grandma's?" he asked wondering why they were at the garage.

"Mommy came and got us." Alyssa told him. "We wanted to come see you." she said laying her head on his shoulder.

Sean kissed the top of his daughter's head. "Where is your mom?" he asked sitting Mike on top of the car he had just finished working on. "I thought she was with Manny at school."

"They came early." Mike said climbing up the hood and looking through the windshield. "Oh can we try this one?" he asked excited.

Jay grabbed his nephew and sat him on his feet. "I don't think so little man." Jay told him and he pouted. "Where your mom and Aunt Manny?" he asked.

"In the lobby. Can we go home Daddy?" Alyssa looked up at Sean.

Sean looked at the order forms Jay had sat on the tool bench before nodding. "Let's go home. We'll have Ryan close for us tonight."

Jay nodded in agreement and went to find Ryan to let him know they were leaving. Sean sat Alyssa back on her feet and slipped out of his coveralls revealing his jeans and white tank top. "Come on." he said putting a hand on his boy's shoulder and holding his daughter's hand as they walked out into the lobby to meet up with Manny and Emma.

Manny smiled as she leaned back in the chair with her year and a half old son on her lap. "Last day of school always feels great don't you think?" she asked Emma. Today was the last day of their semester until they had to go back in the fall. For the next three months they could spend time with their families and the two guys they loved.

"Yea." Emma agreed sounding distracted.

Manny looked over at her friend. "What's wrong?" she asked.

Emma shrugged. "It feels strange. This is going to be the first full summer I've spent with Mike and Lyssa ever. They're turning four in September and this is the longest I've ever spent with them."

"You were here with them last summer." Manny responding sitting Danny down so he could walk around a bit. He couldn't go too far seeing as she had found Mike's old harness in the basement at the house.

"That was different. At the time I was only here to help Mike and then go back to school. Now I'm here to stay and I'm not sure they know that." Emma told her watching the boy explore his new surroundings.

"They aren't used to you being around this much." Manny told her. "Give them time."

"They've had nine months Manny. But they still run to Sean first, they even go to Jay before they come to me." she complained.

Manny chuckled slightly. "It's because Sean's their daddy, Em, and as for Jay he might as well be. They go to them because they've always been there. Don't worry about it." she said as the two men came out of the garage area with the two kids by their side.

"Daddy!" Dan spotted Jay and tried to run over to him. He was held back by the harness and started to fuss.

Jay picked him up and unhooked the leash from his son's back. "Hey buddy what's the matter? Momma got you all hooked up?" he said holding the boy close to him as Manny stood up and walked over to the two of them.

"Hey." she said wrapping one arm around his waist before leaning in for a kiss. Jay groaned as she broke the kiss not wanting it to end.

"Save it for the bedroom. Remember little eyes." Sean said joking as they glared at him. Jay had told him the same thing the week before when he had found Sean and Emma in the kitchen.

"At least we're married." Jay snarked at him.

"Yea Daddy." Alyssa said smiling up at her dad.

Sean glared half heartedly at his only daughter. "Your supposed to be on my side." They all chuckled as they headed out to the parking lot to head home for the day.

**TBC...**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

"Go Daddy and Mikey!" Alyssa yelled from the pool where her, Emma and Manny were watching the boys play basketball with the hoop Sean had brought home a month back. The boys had split into two teams with Mike on Sean's side and Dan on Jay's even though the one year old kept wondering off.

Jay tried to pass the small ball to Dan but he shrieked before running over to the side of the pool where his mother was. Manny laughed as she slipped the boy's water wings on and sat him in the floating water toy they had for him.

Jay rolled his eyes and smirked as Mike picked up the ball. Sean grabbed him and lifted him onto his shoulders so Mike could put the ball through the hoop. "Okay guys. I'm out." he said taking off his shirt so he could join the rest of them in the pool.

"Yay we win!" Mike said before jumping into the pool and accidentally splashed his sister causing her to cry.

"Mike say your sorry." Emma told him comforting Alyssa and wiped the water from him eyes.

"I don't wanna." Mike said going over to where Danny was kicking his feet.

"Michael apologize to your sister." Emma scolded him.

"No." he said playing with Dan. Emma sighed in aggravation and looked over at Sean for his help.

"Michael listen to your mother." Sean scolded him. Lately they had been having problems with getting him to obey Emma. He normal did what he was told but lately almost every time Emma told him to do something it took Sean stepping in to get him to do it.

Mike sighed. "Sorry Lyssa." he said swimming over and hugging his twin sister.

"It's okay Mikey." she said quietly as the phone rang inside.

Emma climbed out the pool and wrapped her towel around her. "I'll get it. I'm gonna go inside anyway." she said going back into the house.

Sean frowned at his son. "Michael Cameron come here. Now." he said sternly. Mike pouted slightly as he swam over to the steps and went over to his dad.

"Yes Daddy?" he said looking up at him with his small blue eyes. Sean bent down on his knee so he could be eye to eye with the boy.

"How many times do I have to tell you to listen to your mother?" he asked the boy as he looked down at his feet. "You should listen to her just like you do with me, Uncle Jay, and Aunt Manny. She loves you just like we do."

"Yes Daddy." Mike said pouting slightly. "I'm sorry Daddy."

Sean put a hand on his shoulder. "When she comes back out you're going to tell her you're sorry and how much you love her alright?"

Mike nodded. "Yes Daddy."

"That's my boy." he said hugging him with one arm. "Now go play with your sister until your mom comes back out."

Back inside the house Emma was on the phone. "Ellie calm down. What happened?" Lately she had been getting these panicked phone calls from Ellie. It would take her a few minutes to calm the other woman down before Ellie would tell her about what had happened.

"No El he hasn't showed up here." Emma told her. "What's going on with you two anyways?"

She heard Ellie's tearfully response on the other end. "I don't know. Ever since the wedding he keeps pushing me away and he spends more time at work now than he ever did. He barely even holds Sophie."

Sophia Ashley Stefanovic was born about two months after Jay and Manny's wedding. Sadly not too long before she was born Ellie and Jesse had started fighting. No one knew what had started it and neither of them were willing to tell.

"Did you try calling the paper? Maybe he went to his office?" Emma suggested as she grabbed a bottle of water from the refrigerator.

She heard Ellie sniff along with the baby start to fuss. "Thanks Emma. I'll call back later. Tell Sean and the kids I said hi." They both said their goodbyes before hanging up.

Sean came inside the house and wrapped his arms around his fiancé. "Who was on the phone?" he asked her kissing the top of her head.

Emma sighed leaning back against his chest. "It was Ellie. Jesse and her were fighting again. She wanted to see if he came here when he left."

She heard Sean sigh. "Again? That's the third time this week. Poor Ellie."

"Yea. I feel more sorry for Sophia though. She's four months old and is having to hear her mom and dad argue all the time." she said.

"They'll be alright though. This has happened before and they are still together." he told her rubbing her back.

"I hope your right." she murmured. "We should probably bring the kids back inside. It looks like its going to storm." she said looking out the kitchen window and saw the black clouds approaching.

Later than night all of them were in the living room watching a movie as the rain poured hard outside. Manny was curled up next to Jay who had Dan asleep on his lap.

"Mike move over." Alyssa told her brother who was laying on the floor with his blanket over the two of them. "That's my blankie."

Mike looked over at her. "No it's not. It's mine." he said before looking at the television.

"Mommy!" Alyssa whined.

"Mike give your sister back her blanket." Emma told him.

"Mom! It's mine. It's blue." Mike told her as he tugged the blanket from Alyssa.

"No it's not! Mine's blue yours is red!" Alyssa said trying to take it back. "Mommy make him give it back!"

"Michael give it back to her or go up to your room." Emma told him.

"Daddy!" Mike pouted before shaking his head and going upstairs. Alyssa smirked as she laid down on her brother's blanket.

Sean paused the movie and picked up Alyssa. "What did you do that for, huh? You know that one's your brother's."

"I wanted that one. It's softer." she pouted sticking out her bottom lip.

"Next time ask him nicely. Now go take it to him and apologize to your brother." he told her sitting back down on her feet. He watched her go up the stairs before starting the movie again.

"Sean! What did you do that for? He took her blanket." Emma said wondering why he had told their daughter to go upstairs.

"No he didn't. Hers is the red one on her bed. Mike's the only one of those two that ever carries their blanket downstairs. He's done it ever since he could walk." Sean told her.

Emma furrowed his brow. "I've never seen him do it."

"You were never here when he did it." she heard Jay respond. "She does that for attention. She did it when Manny moved in, she's even done it to both Ellie and Jesse. She tried to do it to Mom but it didn't work."

Before Emma could respond they heard someone knock on the door. Wondering who would be out in this weather Sean got up to answer it.

"Hey man. Got room for an old friend?" Standing on the doorstep soaked from the rain was Craig Manning.

**TBC...**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Jesse was sitting at his desk at the office staring at a blank screen. Of all the things he could have been doing, working on his next article, playing solitaire, or even emailing his parents the latest pictures of their granddaughter, he sat there just staring at the empty black screen of his computer monitor.

Tonight had brought about another fight between himself and his wife. It had started not too long after they had come home from the wedding and it had gotten worse in the time before their daughter's birth.

He wasn't even at the hospital that night. He had left the house during the fight that had sent her into labor and by the time he had gotten the phone call to get to the hospital there was already someone else in his place by her side.

Even though he was in the room with his own fiancé it didn't matter. One look in the room to see Sean holding the hand of his wife was enough to send him back out into the night.

He had come back later that night with apologies and a bouquet of flowers. He seen her sitting up in the bed holding their new baby girl in her little pick blanket. After that night things had gone back to normal for a little while but it didn't last long.

As Jesse held their daughter in his arms they tried to think of what to name her. He had suggested Sophia while she had suggested the name Cameron. He had shot that down very fast.

"Jesse? What are you doing here? I thought you'd be at home with Ellie and the baby." he heard someone saw coming over to his desk.

He looked up from his computer monitor to see Caitlin Ryan standing next to his desk. "I would be but home really isn't a place I want to be right now." he said turning off the monitor. He was too tired to come up with anything.

"What's going on?" she asked sitting down on the corner of his desk.

"Ellie and I have just been having some problems lately." he told her leaning back in his chair.

Caitlin stood up and put a hand on his shoulder. "I've known Ellie a long time Jesse. Go home, there's nothing here for you right now. It'll get better." she squeezed his shoulder before leaving the office for the night.

Jesse sighed before getting up out of his chair. He turned off the lone light he had turned on by his desk before leaving.

"So Craig what are you doing here in Wasaga?" Sean asked as he leaned back against the couch. It felt weird seeing his old friend after all this time. The last time he had seen Craig, Emma was still pregnant with the twins.

Craig sat the wet towel Emma had given him to dry off down on the floor next to him. "Me and the band are doing a benefit concert up here. We came to check out locations." he said grinning as Manny came back into the room after going to put Daniel down for his nap.

She barely glanced at him before going over to where Jay was sitting and curled up on her husband's lap. "How long are you going to be here?" she asked him laying her head on Jay's shoulder.

Craig shrugged. "We're scouting locations the next two weeks and then we got to get everything organized. I'm not sure how long we're going to be here." he said trying not to pay any attention to how she was with Jay.

Manny smiled tightly and grabbed Jay's hand. "Well we'll see you later then. Come on, baby. Let's go to bed."

"It's only six o'clock." Jay said sounding confused. Even after the wedding she never wanted to play around during the day when the kids were awake.

"Jason, baby, come to bed with me." Jay's eyes widened slightly before nodding and following his wife to their bed room.

"Okay that was weird." Craig said after they left the room.

Emma shrugged. "Not really. They just got married about six months ago. They're still in honeymoon mode." she smiled slightly holding Sean's hand.

Craig spotted the ring on Emma's hand. "You guys are engaged?" he asked surprised. "Wow. So do you guys hang out with Ellie?"

Sean nodded squeezing his fiancé's hand. "Yea. She just had her first baby with her husband a couple months ago."

"So everyone's settled down then." Craig muttered to himself. Sean and Emma looked at each other as she heard footsteps racing down the stairs.

"Mommy! We're hungry." Mike said as him and Alyssa both crawled into their mother's lap.

Emma leaned forward and sat Alyssa on her feet. "Well come on then. Let's go make dinner." she said standing up and shifting Mike to her hip.

"Carry me too Mommy!" Alyssa said tugging on Emma's shirt.

Emma took her daughter's hand as the two men watched. "I'm sorry, baby girl. I can only carry one of you at a time."

Alyssa pouted. "Daddy can carry both of us." she told her folding her arms across her chest angrily.

Emma sighed and ran a hand over her baby girl's head. "Daddy's bigger than I am sweetheart. He has the muscles to carry both of you."

Alyssa stuck out her bottom lip. "Can you try, Mommy? Please? Please?" Emma sighed as she hiked Mike up a little high and bent down so Alyssa could wrap her arms around her neck.

"See Mommy, I told you so." Alyssa said happily as they went into the kitchen. Both men chuckled slightly at the interaction between mother and daughter.

Jay and Manny got into their bedroom and Jay wrapped his arms around her waist as he started to suck on her neck. "I gotta say I like this dessert before dinner thing." he murmured against her skin.

Manny moaned slightly and gently pushed him off. "Baby not right now." she whispered.

Jay raised an eyebrow. "I thought that's why we came in here." he said confused.

Manny shook her head. "I just wanted to get away from _him_." she told him making sure their bedroom door was locked before going over and sitting down on their bed.

Jay sighed and sat down next to her. "Babe you can't let him get to you." he said putting an arm around her shoulder as she cuddled into his side. "He's tried this crap before but it didn't work. You are better than he ever could be."

Manny smiled slightly at him and pulled his head down for a soft kiss. "Thank you." she said running her hand through his hair. "Come lay down with me?" she asked pulling him to lay down next to her.

Jay grinned slightly. "Always." he whispered as he held her tight. They stayed like that curled up together in their bed quietly talking and trading gentle kisses until Sean called them for dinner.

**TBC...**

**A/N: Hey all! So glad you guys are enjoying this story. Sorry it took a little longer for this chapter. My muse is wanting to jump ahead on me. Anyways thank you to all those reading and I hope you enjoyed this chapter.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

After Sean called them for dinner Manny and Jay unwrapped themselves from each other and sat up. "Ready to go back out there?" Jay asked her.

Manny sighed. "Not really." she replied holding his hand tight.

Jay placed a kiss on her forehead. "Come on, babe, besides I'm hungry." He said pulling her up off their bed.

They walked into the dining room hand in hand to see them all sitting around the table with Dan in his high chair.

"Hey Manning you're in my chair." Jay said putting a hand on his shoulder.

Craig looked up at him. "You're names not on it." he said as Manny took her seat beside Alyssa and on the other side of Dan's chair so she could help feed him his dinner.

Jay laughed harshly. "My table, emo-boy, my family. Now move." he said motioning to the chair Sean had brought in from the kitchen. Craig glared at him as he moved to the seat by Mike.

"It been getting really busy at the garage lately. Ryan was fine with finishing up for you guys?" Emma asked breaking the tense silence that had come over the dinner table.

"He's nineteen. A night in that garage to him is heaven." Jay said taking a hot dog for Daniel and cut it up for him.

"You're twenty-one. Shouldn't you be thinking the same thing?" Craig asked taking a sip of his tea.

Jay glared at him again. "Not when I have a wife and kid at home."

"Don't forget us Uncle Jay." Mike chimed in as he happily ate his dinner.

Jay smiled at his little nephew. "And my favorite niece and nephew." Mike and Alyssa grinned at him. Craig stiffened at Jay's response to his question.

"So what are we doing this summer?" Manny asked.

Jay shrugged as Sean cleared his throat. "Actually sometime this summer me and Jay are going to go down to Toronto." he said finishing his dinner.

"Why are you going to Toronto?" Emma asked as she cleared the dishes from the table.

"Well we were looking at the books the other day and with all the business we've been getting from other areas we're thinking about possibly expanding. We just got to go look at buildings first" Sean told her.

"That's great!" Manny said sounding excited.

Sean got up from his seat to help Emma clean off the table. "Then when we get back we're going to start looking at preschools for Mike and Alyssa." he said quickly hoping Emma didn't catch it.

Apparently she did considering the look on her face as the twins cheered happily. "Shouldn't we have talked about this first, Sean?" she asked him as Manny got them to go out on the deck with Craig as her and Jay took over cleaning up.

"I just figured next semester you and Manny are going to be busy since it's your last year and Jay and I are going to be busy at the garage. Besides it'll be good for them." Sean told her.

"I'm going to be so busy that I can't take care of my kids, Sean." Emma said surprised that he would be willing to do this.

Sean looked over at her. "Em, what's so wrong with them starting preschool? Wouldn't you rather start them out there than be thrust into kindergarten next year?" he asked wondering where this was coming from.

Emma sighed. "We'll talk about this later." she said going into the kitchen to start the dishwasher. Sean sighed before going to join the rest of the family outside.

Craig was sitting in one of the chairs on the deck watching Jay and Manny in the yard with the three kids. They had gone outside that way the twins couldn't hear Sean and Emma.

He watched as Mike tackled Jay into the grass and saw Jay tickle the boy before he ran off to play with his sister again. He watched as Manny helped Jay up with one hand while she held Danny in the other arm.

That should be him down there. That should be him playing with the twins, acting as uncle. That should be him being helped up off the ground. That should be his baby in her arms, his ring on her finger.

No matter what Jay did he would never be good enough for her. No matter how many cars he fixed or bed time stories he told the kids he would never be able to change who he is.

Jay was slime, he did drugs, he smoked, he drank, he slept around. Yeah he had heard about the gonorrhea outbreak that year. Craig could barely believe she would date someone like that. Let alone marry a man with a reputation like that.

He had two months to get his charity concert together. He had two months to convince Manny that she married the wrong man. He had two months to get his life back on track even if that meant leaving Jay's shattered.

Craig smiled to himself. He'd start tomorrow morning when the boys left for work. _Just two months and she'll be back where she belongs. With me._

**TBC...**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Sean came outside after talking with Emma and joined the boys in the yard while Manny went to sit on the deck and put Dan in his play pin that was out there. Emma came out not too long after Sean and they along with Craig watched the two men play around in the muddy yard with the twins.

Eventually it became time to get all the kids ready to go to bed along with the guys so they could get to work on time the next morning.

"Alright guys come on!" Manny called out to them handing her sleeping son over to Craig. "It's time to get you cleaned up."

Jay and Sean came up the steps with the twins slowly following behind them. They tried to go into the house but the two girls stood up and stopped them from going inside.

"If you think you're stepping into that house covered in mud you're insane." Emma said looking at her mud covered family.

"How are we gonna get clean then Mommy?" Alyssa asked looking up at her mother. Manny went over by the grill and grabbed the water hose.

"Hold still." she said as she turned the water on. She squeezed the handle and a spray of water came out hitting the four of them as the two kids shrieked.

Emma chuckled at them as Manny used the hose to clean the twins first before turning the water onto the two grown men to get the mud off of their clothes and out of their hair before going into the house to grab towels for them to dry off.

When she came back out of the house Manny was turning off the hose as Jay tried to go over and wrap his arms around her waist hoping to get her as soaked as she got him.

"Momma!" Mike cried rushing over to her water dripping everywhere as his small body shook from the temperature. Emma bent down and quickly wrapped her baby boy in one of the towels. She held him tight to warm him up from the cold water while using part of it to dry his hair.

"I got you baby." she said softly as Alyssa came over to her also shivering.

"Mommy I'm cold." she pouted. Emma opened up the towel she was using to dry off Mike and wrapped part of it around her daughter. She bent down and picked them both up.

"Em." Sean said going over to his family dripping wet.

She shook her head. "I'm not talking to you. Come on babies, let's go get ready for bed." Emma said taking their two kids into the house to get them into their pajamas and help them brush their teeth.

Sean sighed as he bent down to pick up the last of the towels to dry himself off.

Back inside the house Emma had finished helping the twins brush their teeth and was helping the twins get changed into their pajamas. She got Alyssa into her nightgown and went to help Mike put his shirt on but he stopped her.

"I can do it Momma." he said taking his shirt from her. He struggled a bit as he pulled it down over his head and grinned happily at her after he got it all the way down.

Emma smiled tightly as she ruffled the boy's damp hair before going to put Alyssa up in her bed above Mike's. Alyssa stopped her like Mike had before and put her hands on the ladder that led to the top bunk.

"I can get up there myself Mommy." Alyssa said climbing up. She stumbled a bit and Emma caught her as she finished climbing up.

Emma covered her with the blanket and lightly kissed her forehead. Mike held up his arms to be picked up which Emma did. She hugged him and placed a kiss on his cheek before laying him down on his bed and covered him up.

"Night angels." she said turning on their nightlight as she went over to the door.

"Mommy?" Alyssa called her back.

Emma turned around to see her daughter looking at her. "Yea sweetheart?"

"Are you still gonna be here when we get up?" Alyssa asked her.

"Of course I am. Why do you think I wouldn't?" she asked Alyssa wondering how she got that idea in her head.

"Because you told Daddy you're not talking to him anymore." she said laying back down. "Night Mommy."

"Night." Emma said quietly turning out the light and closed the door half way. She stood there outside for a moment before going down the hall to her and Sean's room. She sat down at the small vanity table and put her head in her hands.

That was how Sean found her not too long afterwards when he came into the room. He walked up behind her and put his hands on her shoulders.

"Em what's wrong?" he asked rubbing her shoulders just a bit.

She sighed and wiped a couple tears from her eyes. "I'm sorry about tonight." she told him softly. "It's just so hard. It feels like I just got them back and now I have to let them go again."

Sean sat down on the bench next to her and held her tight. "It's not like their leaving us forever, they're just going to preschool for a few hours a day so you can go to school and I can go to work. What's this all about?"

Emma laid her head down on his shoulder. "Alyssa asked me if I was going to still be here in the morning because I told you I wasn't talking to you."

"Just keep telling her you aren't leaving. At least that's the first time she's asked since spring break and Mike was finally behaving himself." he said kissing the top of her head.

Emma smiled slightly. "You always know what to say to make me feel better. Thank you." she said catching his lips with hers.

Sean moaned slightly. "You're welcome." he said softly. "Are you coming to bed?" he asked going over and turning down his side of the covers.

"Yea." she told him. "Just give me a minute."

Sean nodded and watched her leave the room. Emma went down the hallway and peeked into her children's room to check on them. She smiled at seeing they both fast asleep with both of them clutching some stuffed animal in their arms.

She stepped into the room and brushed a lock of hair from her daughter's forehead. "I love you angel." she saw Alyssa smile in her sleep and curl up closer to her toy.

She looked down at Mike and pulled his blanket back up from where he had kicked it off, a habit he got from his father. She laid it over him and tucked him back in even though the blanket would probably be in the floor by morning.

Mike smiled slightly. "I love you too baby boy." she whispered to him and walked back out of the room.

She went back into the room she shared with her fiancé. She got under the covers and curled up next to him. "Are you feeling better now Em?" Sean asked sleepily.

"Yea. Goodnight Sean." Emma told him. "I love you."

"Love you too, gorgeous. Night." he whispered holding her tight as they both drifted off to sleep.

**TBC...**

**A/N: Hey all! Sorry about the lack of Jaynny and Craig in this chapter. Nothing I came up with for them fit right in this chapter. They will definitly be in the next chapter though. Hope you all enjoyed!**

- **Lexxie Sparrow**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Hey guys! Two chapters in one week. Wow I haven't been able to do that since the beginning of Truth or Consequences. Thank you to everyone thats reviewed and I hope you all enjoy the new chapter.**

**Chapter 6**

He was sitting on the couch furiously scribbling on a pad of paper as the sun started to peak through the window. He hadn't written this much since he was sixteen but he had been hit with sudden inspiration during the night and had stayed up to get it all written out.

He took a drink of his coffee as he heard someone walk out of one of the other rooms.

"Didn't know rock stars knew how to wake up before sunrise." he heard Jay snark as he went into the kitchen.

He sneered as the man appeared in the doorway holding a coffee mug. "Didn't know drug addicts knew how to be up before noon." he snarked back.

Jay chuckled hollowly. "You'd know wouldn't you?" he said grabbing his keys from the side table. "Try to stay away from my son and don't go hitting on my wife today while I'm gone alright."

Craig glared at him as he headed out to his car to leave for the garage. He picked up his cup again to find it empty. He was nodding his head to the rhythm in his head as he poured himself another cup of coffee when he heard Daniel start to fuzz in his room.

He left his cup by the pot and made his way into the boy's room to see him awake and standing up in his crib.

"Hey buddy." he whispered turning off the baby monitor. "Remember me?" he asked picking the boy up out of the crib.

"Wan' Dada." Dan whimpered.

"Dada left already. You want some breakfast?" he whispered carrying the boy out into the living room.

"Mama?" he whimpered laying his head on Craig's shoulder.

Craig shook his head. "Mom's not up yet and we don't wanna wake her up do we?" he said sitting back down on the couch and turning the tv onto some cartoon.

Daniel pouted as Craig sat him on the couch so he could get his coffee and grab the toddler's sippy cup.

Ellie was in the baby's room rocking Sophia as she cried. She had been crying off and on since she had gotten off the phone with Emma.

"Come on baby girl. You gotta be tired." she said softly as she patted her gently on the back just incase she was feeling sick. Ellie heard the front door open as Sophia began to quiet down.

She laid the baby down in her crib and went to see if Jesse had come home. She went into the room they shared and found him changing his shirt.

"It's about time you came back home." she said folding her arms across her chest as she leaned against the door frame.

"Just came to change before I go back to work." Jesse told her.

She looked over at him. "So we're not going to talk? You're not going to check in on your daughter?"

Jesse shook his head. "There's nothing to talk about and of course I am." he said walking out of the room.

"Come on Jesse. Talk to me. Please?" Ellie said following him.

Jesse turned around. "Talk to you about what? The fact that my wife is in love with another man? That she still loves her ex-boyfriend from high school who has twins and is engaged to another woman?"

"Jesse stop." Ellie pleaded not wanting to remember why they got into another fight the day before.

Jesse sighed as he went over to the door to Sophia's room. "I'll be back later for some of my stuff. I'm going to go stay with Eric and Marco for a while." he said quietly as he went into their daughter's room.

Ellie leaned against the wall and sunk down to the carpet. She could hear Jesse talking to Sophia and slowly dissolved into tears.

Manny yawned as she woke up to the sun shining brightly through the window. She looked over at the clock and was surprised to see it was after nine o'clock.

"Crap." she muttered as she grabbed her robe. Normally Dan was awake and hungry not too long after Jay left in the mornings. She checked the baby monitor but didn't hear anything coming from the boy's room.

She went down the hall to check on him but didn't find him in his crib. "Em!" she called going up stairs to see if Emma had gotten him up.

She found Emma upstairs with Mike and Alyssa getting them ready to go out for the day. "Hey Danny's not in here with you guys is he?" Manny asked looking in the room.

Emma shook her head as Mike rooted around under the bed for his other sandal. "He wasn't in there in his room?"

Manny shook her head. "Maybe Jay or Sean took him to the garage when they left?" Emma asked her as Mike grinned as he found the other sandal.

"Jay won't take him. He says Dan's too young to go right now." Manny said now worried about where her baby boy was. At least until they heard laughter coming from down stairs.

They all went downstairs to find Craig in the living room with Dan watching cartoons. Manny sighed with relief as she went over and picked up Dan and held him close.

"Mama! Me hungy." he said as he sloppily kissed her cheek while she glared at Craig.

"Mama will get you something to eat, baby." Manny said kissing his head before turning her glare back to Craig who sunk down in his seat. "Next time you take my son from his bed don't turn off the monitor, better yet wake me up and don't touch him." she told him before taking the boy into the kitchen to fix him something for breakfast.

Craig looked over at Emma for help but she just shook her head and led Mike and Alyssa out to her car.

Craig sighed after he heard the door close. _Plan A: failed, _he thought, _just have to switch to Plan B_.

**TBC...**

**A/N 2: One more note. I don't know how many of you know this but the N is running a What If contest that fans get to submit ideas they'd like to see turned into a mini and the fans get to vote for the winner. Voting starts next week and I entered the idea that spawned this series so if you'd like to see them act it out vote for it please. Thank you!**

**- Lexxie**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Thank you all so much for reading and your support. I hope you enjoy the new chapter!**

**Chapter 7**

Later on that afternoon after Craig had taken off to work on organizing his concert Manny was in the kitchen loading the dishwasher with the dirty dishes from breakfast when she felt the strong arms of her husband wrap around her waist.

"Hey." she smiled looking over her shoulder. "What are you doing home?" she asked him.

Jay held his wife close to his chest. "It finally slowed down so I told Sean I was going to come home to have lunch with my beautiful wife and son." he said placing a kiss on the side of her neck. "Where is our little boy anyway?"

Manny turned around in his arms. "Our boy is already down for his nap." she smiled smiling slightly.

Jay lifted her up onto the counter. "And our little niece and nephew?"

"Out with Emma getting school supplies for the fall." she said wrapping her legs around his waist to pull him closer.

Jay smirked at her. "And our unwelcome house guest?" he asked making sure they wouldn't have any interruptions.

Manny wrapped her arms around his neck pulling his head down towards hers. "Working on his concert. No one is in the house but us." she whispered softly against his lips as she brushed hers against his before trying to pull away from him.

Jay laughed lightly as he shook his head. "You're not getting away that easy, dimples. Come here." he said pulling her back and kissed her full on the mouth.

She moaned slightly. "Jay we can't do this here." she whispered as she felt him slide his hands slowly up the back of her shirt. "What if Danny wakes up?"

"He hasn't learned how to climb out of his crib yet." he said enjoying having his wife in his arms and not wanting to let her go.

Manny kissed him one more time. "I love you, baby, but I'm not having sex with you on our counter." she said getting down off the kitchen counter.

Jay shrugged. "Alright." he said. "So how about I take you and Dan out for lunch instead?" he asked not ready to head back to work just yet.

Manny closed the dishwasher and wiped her hands on a towel. "Alright but if he's cranky you're gonna be the one dealing with him." Jay rolled his eyes and kissed her cheek before going to get Daniel from his room.

She was wiping off the counter when she heard someone else come into the house. Craig walked into the kitchen and stood there watching her clean the kitchen.

"So this is what you do now huh? The Manny I remember didn't want this life." he said startling her.

She recovered quickly. "I haven't spoken to you in three years. I've changed." she told him.

"Really? So you're happy playing the role of house wife?" he asked sitting at the small table. "You had plans for your life. You wanted to go to Smithdale, you wanted to become an actress. Now you're here in Wasaga Beach playing house with a set of mechanics. It's not you."

Manny looked her over at her ex. "I told you it's been three years since then. Plans changed." she said somewhat sadly.

"What if I told you that I could get you in there?" Craig propositioned.

Manny's eyes widened slightly. "Really? How?" she asked looking to see if Jay was coming before sitting across from him.

"I'm headed down there once I'm done here." Craig put a hand over hers. "Come with me when I leave."

Manny pulled her hand away from his and shook her head. "I can't."

"Because of Jay?" Craig asked her.

"Because of my husband, my son, my family, school, because of everything in my life right now." she told him.

Craig stood up from his chair. "If I let all that get in my way three years ago I wouldn't be where I am right now." he whispered in her ear. "Just think about it." he said leaving as Jay walked back into the kitchen with Dan in his arms.

"What was that about?" Jay asked her as they headed out to his car.

"Nothing." she said taking Dan from Jay and strapped him in his car seat. "So where are we going to eat?"

Emma was pushing a grocery cart through the store with Alyssa and Mike trying to help them pick out their new clothes and other accessories they would need for preschool. She led them to the girls' section to find clothes for Alyssa first.

She found a nice shirt on the rack and showed it to her daughter. "What about this?" she asked her.

Alyssa cringed and shook her head. "I don't like pink." she told her mom. Emma put that one back and grabbed another shirt in a different color. "I don't like purple either." she said as she looked around and saw the boys' section.

"What about that one?" she asked pointing at a blue shirt with a race car on it.

Mike looked over to where his sister was pointing. "Yea Momma I like that one too."

Emma looked at the shirt both of the kids wanted and cringed slightly. "It'd be alright for your brother, baby, but wouldn't you like something a little more girly?"

Alyssa shook her head. "I like that shirt, Mommy. Daddy would get it. Please, please?" she begged.

Emma sighed. "Alright." she caved and pushed the cart over to the boys' section. "What color do you want?" she asked them both. Alyssa picked the blue one she had seen while Mike picked a black one just like it.

As they went to look at backpacks Emma spotted a cute yellow lacey dress. "Aw Lys what do you think about this?" she asked showing it to Alyssa.

Alyssa furrowed her nose. "Daddy only makes me wear a dress on special days."

"It looks funny." Mike said holding his new basketball.

This happened at least twice more as they finished their shopping. After checking out Emma loaded everything into the car before strapping the kids into their seats.

"Can we go to the garage Momma?" Mike asked from the backseat. "I wanna show Daddy my new ball."

Emma thought about it for a moment and got into the lane to head towards the garage. "Okay but we can't stay too long."

About twenty minutes later they pulled up in front of the garage. They found Sean by the front counter going over the bill with one of his customers. He shook the man's hand before going over to his family.

"What are you guys doing here? I thought you were going shopping." he said bending down to accept the hugs from his son and daughter.

"We just finished up and they wanted to come see you." Emma said wrapping an arm around his shoulders trying to avoid the grease on his coveralls as he was bent down to the kids height.

"Momma got me a new ball." Mike told him excited.

Sean chuckled. "Then I guess we're gonna have to play when I get home tonight then." he said as one of the mechanics came looking for him. "I gotta get back to work." he said hugging the twins one more time before standing back up.

Emma kissed his cheek. "I gotta talk to you when you get home." she whispered in his ear before saying goodbye and going back out to the car.

TBC...


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Hey guys! I know this story is moving kind of slow but please hang on tight. We got a good, long ride ahead of us with this one. Also by request this one is some what longer than what I normally post. Normally it about three pages on Word, this time it's about four and a half. Anyways enjoy the new chapter!**

**Chapter 8**

Manny and Jay were sitting at a small table in a local diner watching Dan try to feed himself. Manny smiled at him as she wiped some of his lunch off of his face making him fuss.

Jay chuckled at his boy before looking across the table at his wife. "So what were you and Manning talking about before we came into the room?" he asked her.

Manny turned her attention from the messy little boy. "I told you, Jay. It was nothing." she said helping Dan get his spoon into his mouth this time.

"It didn't look like nothing Manny." Jay said.

Manny sighed and gave Danny his plastic spoon back. "Please trust me Jay when I tell you it wasn't anything. Just two old friends talking."

Jay sighed. "It's not you I don't trust." he muttered. "He caused a lot of trouble for you and I don't want you sucked back into that again." he said as the waitress came over to the table and refilled his drink.

Manny placed her hand over Jay's and laced her fingers through his. "I'm not going to. I'm with you now." she said rubbing small circles on the top on his hand.

Jay sighed as he picked up her hand and held it in his own. "I was thinking." he began.

"About what?" she asked him.

"You know how me and Sean are talking about expanding on the garage right?" he asked and she nodded. "And I remember while we were on our honeymoon we started talking about how we wanted to have a bigger family but decided we would wait until Danny was older and everything was more stable for us."

Manny furrowed her brow. "Where are you going with this, baby?" she wondered as the waitress placed their check on the table.

Jay took a deep breath before he finally got to him point. "What if once everything's settled with the new garage we get our own place?" he asked her.

Manny's jaw almost hit the floor in shock and she shook her head. "Jay we can't afford that. We're lucky we can afford our half on the payments for the house." Manny told him trying to bring him back from whatever delusion he was in.

Jay smirked at her. "Actually we can. With the business coming in and what we expect in T.O. we could do just about anything we want. With our savings Sean'll be able to pay off the house and we can be able to put a down payment on one."

"Really?" she said sounding excited not able to believe it.

Jay nodded. "I already started looking at houses in the neighborhood that way we all won't be too far from each other." Manny smiled happily at him and leaned across the table to place a kiss on Jay's lips.

That same afternoon Ellie was sitting in the small dining room in the house on her lap top working on her latest article while Sophia laid in her play pin a few feet away napping.

It had taken her a while to get her calm again once Jesse had left. He was supposed to be coming back later that night. Maybe if she was lucky she could convince him to stay at home with her and their daughter.

She sighed as she continued to stare at the blank screen in front of her. Her article was due by that night and she hadn't written a word of it as of yet. She put the program she was using down at the bottom of her screen and opened up her email.

She deleted a bunch of spam that was taking up room in her inbox. She saw a new message from Marco, one from Ashley, and a bunch of chain letters from Spinner. She saved the ones from Spinner to look at later and skimmed through the other two that were mostly asking her what was going on with her and Jesse and asking how little Sophie was doing.

Just as she was getting ready to try to get back to her work another email popped up. She looked at the email address and smiled slightly. She opened it up and downloaded the attachment that had come with it as she read it.

_Hey El,_

_I know you and Jesse couldn't make it to Jay's BBQ so I sent some pictures. Be warned there's a lot. Emma and Manny grabbed the camera from us and Emma wanted a lot with her and the kids since we don't have very many. You both should come up soon. Mike and Lyssa both miss you two. - Sean_

A month or so back Jay had bought a new grill and had called everyone to invite them up to the house. Sophia had only been a few weeks old so Jesse and her had stayed behind.

She looked through the pictures and saw some of the three kids with Spinner and Darcy, some of Jay and Manny with their son, a few with Marco and Mike trying to drag him into the swimming pool. There were some with the guys over by the grill and the girls tanning.

Near the end there were a lot with Sean with Mike and Alyssa. She grinned when she saw the ones of Mike and Sean both in matching swimming trunks with the exact same annoyed expression on their faces. After those there were a bunch with the kids with their mother. The last two in the folder, though, almost broke her heart.

The first one was an exact replica of the picture she had taken with the three of them on the beach when the twins were babies but in her place holding Alyssa was Emma. She had treasured that picture as it made her feel like part of their family, now that memory was tainted.

The second was of Sean and Emma standing on the deck staring down at the rest of the family with his arms around her holding her close. They looked every bit like the happy couple they were watching their family below them.

She quickly closed her lap top shut. Most days she wished that could be her with them, those were the days that being with Jesse were the worst. The rest she wished she could have what they had. The perfect little family with the twins and Jay, Manny, and Daniel. The seemingly perfect relationship that could conquer almost anything.

She had that with Jesse until last year. Until she had to see Emma work her way back into her friend's life, back into her children's lives. Until she watched from the side lines as Emma got everything Ellie had wanted since grade eleven.

It wasn't right. She had told a small lie to try to keep him and she had lost him in every way possible for a year. Emma leaves him and abandons her children yet she got welcomed back with almost open arms when she returned almost a year later. So what if her bone marrow had matched Mike's, they would've found a donor without her coming back into the picture.

Some would say she hated her for taking everything from her. That was another reason they hadn't gone to the cook out. To see those two together disgusted her.

She shook her head and decided to put those thoughts out of her mind and tried to get back to work. Jesse would be pissed if she didn't get this to him soon.

Sean arrived home late that afternoon to an empty house. "Hey anyone here?" he called.

"Up here Sean!" Emma called from upstairs.

Sean climbed the stairs and found Emma in the guest room next to the twins. "What are you doing in here?" he asked her walking into the small bedroom.

"I was thinking what if this wall was painted a nice soft light blue and if we painted little white clouds?" she asked him. "Or how about a really light pink color with a nice white trim?" she wondered looking around the room.

Sean raised an eyebrow at his fiancé. "Sure but its just a guest room, Em. It doesn't really need to be all decorated like that. Plus I don't think Jesse or Snake would like sleeping in an all pink room." he said wrapping his arms around her waist.

"What if it wasn't just a guest room?" she asked Sean leaning against his shoulder.

Sean felt his stomach drop. "Em."

She stepped out of his arms and went over by one of the walls close to the bed. "Right here we could have a mural painted or something. Something really cute with like rabbits maybe?"

Sean placed his hands on her shoulders trying to slow her down. "Em talk to me. You're not pregnant are you?" he asked worried. They had been careful every time they had been together as they knew the last thing they needed right now was a new baby.

Emma shook her head. "No," she told him and Sean breathed a sigh of relief. "But I want to be."

Sean sighed and sat down on the spare bed. "Come here." he said motioning for her to sit down with him. Emma sat down on his lap and he held her tight. "What's going on?" he asked her softly.

"What? I can't want to build a bigger family with my husband?" she asked him. Sean just raised an eyebrow at her. "Besides you weren't there for the pregnancy and I missed so much of their lives. I just want to experience it again with you." she said running a hand through his hair.

Sean kissed her softly. "I would love to give you another baby, Em. But you've still got two years of school left and I'm busy with the garage and getting the new one of the ground." he told her and she pouted.

Emma sighed as she crawled off his lap and sat down next to him. "I guess we probably should wait." she said agreed half heartedly.

Sean ran a hand down her back. "Once everything settles down and you're out of school then we'll try alright." he placed a kiss on the side of her head. "I'm gonna go find the kids." he said and left her in the spare room by herself.

She sighed and stood up from her spot on the bed. She stayed in there for a bit straightening up the room before going into the room she shared with Sean. She looked out their bedroom window and saw him down in the yard with Mike and Alyssa.

She went over to the table by the bed and opened the drawer. She found the box of condoms Sean normally kept in there just incase. She took them into the bathroom and threw them into the trash can.

After that she opened the medicine cabinet and found the pills she had been taking off and on over the years after she had the twins. About half of them for the month were gone; the rest were still in the package waiting to be used. She looked at them before sending them into the same spot as the box.

She smiled slightly to herself before tying up the tiny trash bag. She carried it downstairs and went out on the deck to put it in the trash can that would be taken out to the street that night. She turned around and saw Sean playing in the grass with the kids.

"Hey what do you guys want for dinner?" she called out to them and smiled as the twins came racing to her both rambling off what they wanted to eat.

She grabbed Sean's arm as he came up the steps. "When are you and Jay going to Toronto?" she asked him wondering when the two boys would be leaving.

"Probably some time next week. Thing you can handle being alone with them for two or three weeks while we're gone?" Sean asked her as Emma did the calculations in her head.

"Yea of course." she said automatically.

"Mom! We're hungry!" They laughed as Mike complained from inside the house as they headed inside to fix dinner.

**TBC...**


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

He was walking along the streets of Wasaga Beach thinking to himself about what he would try next. The mechanic would be leaving very soon to go with Sean down to Toronto leaving Manny all alone with their child.

Maybe that's how he could get her back. Maybe if he won over the boy and showed her how much better things would be if she came back to him? They could be the family they would have been if she had kept their baby girl.

But, he had to remember, the boy was half Hogart. He sneered to himself. There's no way he would take care of the bastard's kid even if he was Manny's.

He would just have to make him angry enough for him to take the boy away from her when he left. She would be hurt after they both were gone but he would comfort her. Take her back with him to get away from all the horrible memories.

He was pulled out of his thoughts when he heard his cell phone ring. He took it out of his pocket and looked to see who was calling him.

He seen who it was and sent the call straight to voice mail just as he had the last few times they had tried getting a hold of him. He had better things to do than answer their calls.

By the time Manny woke up that morning she saw that Jay was already out of bed, dressed and getting the rest of his stuff together so he and Sean could leave in a couple hours.

"Hey what are you doing up already?" she asked him wondering why he was up so early.

"Just getting the rest of my stuff together," he said zipping up his suitcase.

She looked over at the clock on their bedside table to see that it was only a little past seven in the morning. Sean hadn't even planned to leave for Toronto until eleven.

"Baby come back to bed." she told him tiredly. "Sean isn't even going to be awake for at least another hour or two himself." she said sitting up and taking one of his hands into her smaller one.

Jay came closer to her and wrapped his arms around her still standing up. "If I get back in bed now I won't want to leave."

She placed a kiss on his shirt covered chest. "How would that be a bad thing?"

"Because then I couldn't help scout locations for the new garage." Jay said holding her close to him.

Manny pouted. "Why do you have to go? Can't he go on his own?" she asked as he let go of her and went to gather up his cell phone, mp3 player, and the cords that went with them to put them in his backpack for the drive down.

"I'm his co-owner, babe, I get a say in everything that goes on including looking for places to build the new garage," he told her sitting his bags by their bedroom door before joining her on the bed.

She sighed as she hugged him sideways and laid her head on his chest. "What am I going to do without you for three weeks?" It would be the longest they had been apart since they had found out she was pregnant with Daniel.

He kissed the top of her head. "I'll be back before you know it, boo." he whispered. "Meanwhile you just start looking for the house you want to make our home."

She nodded and grabbed the bottom of his shirt. "Now will you come lay back down?" she asked smiling as she looked up at him. Jay laid his forehead against hers smirking and gently lowered her back down onto the mattress.

"I still got time to kill right?" he whispered as he crawled on top of her and she nodded smirking back at him. His lips were a hair's breath away from her own when they heard a sound come from the baby monitor.

"Daddy!" they heard Daniel yell. "Daddy!"

Jay sighed as he rolled onto his back. "Think if I don't go in there he'll go back to sleep?" he asked Manny as she chuckled.

"DADDY!" they heard from the monitor.

Manny kissed his cheek. "I don't think so. Go on." she said trying to push him off the bed.

Jay sighed and pressed a button on the monitor. "Hold on buddy. Dad's coming." he heard Dan's giggle float over the monitor as he walked out of the room.

Manny smiled as she lay back on the bed listening in on Jay's one sided conversation with their son.

Emma yawned as she opened her eyes. She looked behind her at the middle of the bed where the twins had come and slept the night before. She raised an eyebrow when she noticed they weren't in the middle of the bed and that somehow in the middle of the night they had curled up next to Sean.

Mike had his head on one of his shoulders and Alyssa was sound asleep with her head on the other shoulder while Sean slept on his back with his arms wrapped around them both. Emma put a hand on her daughter's back causing her to clutch Sean tighter and made Emma frown.

She got out of the bed and went to the side Mike was laying on and tried to pick him up but received the same result.

"Come on baby. Time to go back to your bed." she whispered trying to pick him up again.

Mike whimpered in his sleep and held tight to his father. "No. I want Daddy." he muttered. She sighed giving up for now and went into the bathroom to go about her morning ritual before the other three woke up and Sean rushed to leave.

After she got out of the shower she opened the medicine cabinet to reach for her pill. When her hand met the empty spot on the shelf she remembered she had thrown them out the week before. She closed the medicine cabinet and finished getting dressed.

By the time she got out of the bathroom she looked at the clock and seen that it was almost time for her fiancée to wake up if he wanted to be able to leave on time. She went over to the bed and rubbed his bare chest.

Sean slowly blinked his eyes open and saw her standing above him. "Hey." he whispered quietly so not to wake the twins.

"Morning." she said as he moved his arm from Mike and motioned for her to take him so he could move Alyssa's head onto her mother's pillow.

Sean stretched and looked over at the clock beside the bed. "I should probably get ready." he said not making a move to get out of bed.

Emma held their sleeping son in her lap as she sat down beside him. "Or you could postpone the trip?" she suggested.

Sean sighed as he put an arm around her. "I would but this is something I have to do, Em. Especially if we want to have a bigger family." he said moving his hand over her stomach that hopefully one day would house another child of theirs.

Emma looked down at his hand and then at their son and daughter. "Except it's also going to take you away from the family we have right now and postpone our wedding."

"We haven't even set a date for the wedding yet." he responded. "If you don't want me to go we won't. The garage and us will stay here in Wasaga." he said sounding slightly disappointed.

Emma sighed. "That's not what I meant Sean. Just the one here has taken up all of your time lately; we haven't had the chance to even talk about setting a date. What do you think is going to happen when you open the one in Toronto?"

Sean shook his head as he got out of bed. "You're complaining about me not having time now? Just last week you weren't upset with us leaving and the idea of opening another garage." he shook his head again.

"I'm going to take a shower." he muttered slamming the door to their bathroom and locking it behind him.

Emma clutched her sleeping son and laid him back down next to Alyssa. She hadn't meant to start off the day arguing with him, especially the day he was leaving and wouldn't be home for two weeks at the least. She kissed the twins on their foreheads before going downstairs. Maybe she could make it up to him with breakfast.

As she walked out of the room Alyssa opened her eyes as the door closed and pouted before curling up with her brother.

About two hours later the two guys were outside loading up Sean's car with their luggage and everything they would need for their trip. Sean hadn't spoken a word to Emma since their fight in the bedroom and it was slowly grating on her nerves.

He put the last bag that had all of the information for the trip into the trunk before closing it shut. It would take them about an hour or two to get down there depending on how they drive. They didn't have to check into a hotel as Ellie had offered to house them while they were there.

Jay went up to where the girls were sitting on the porch with the kids. "Guess it's time for us to take off." he said bending down to accept hugs from Mike and Alyssa. He ruffed the boy's hair before letting go and turning to Manny as Sean walked up the drive way.

"I can't convince you to stay can I?" she asked smirking as she handing Daniel over to him so Jay could say goodbye to him.

Jay held Dan close to him and smirked back at her. "Told you before I got to do this. Besides someone's gotta be there to make sure Sean doesn't screw up." he said improvising what he had told her that day almost four years ago when they had left the girls behind the first time.

Sean just glared at him as Manny kissed Jay in front of them all. He bent down and let his two kids into his open arms. "You guys be good for your mom alright." he whispered hugging them tightly. Mike let go and went back to his basketball, Alyssa though held on tight to her dad.

"Baby girl let go. Daddy has to go with Uncle Jay." he said trying to let her go. When he tried he felt small teardrops on his shoulder. "What's wrong sweetheart?" he asked her.

He heard her sniff to try to hold her tears in. "I don't want you to go." she cried.

Sean rubbed her back as the rest of the family looked on. "Why not?" he asked her softly.

"Because you're mad at Mommy and you won't come home." she told him softly stepping back so he could see her eyes.

He put a hand on the side of her head. "I'm not mad at your mom and I promise you I will always come back to you alright."

"Promise?" she asked her bottom lip trembling.

He hugged her again. "Promise."

She slowly let go of him and went back to where her brother was sitting. Sean stood up and stood in front of Emma.

She smiled slightly at him. "Only two weeks right?" she said softly as he wrapped his arms around her.

"I'll be back before you know it." he said placing a kiss on her lips.

They didn't break apart until they heard Manny yell and looked over to see her still in Jay's arms.

"You fuss at us for doing that same thing. Tsk tsk." Jay grinned holding his wife and son. "What kind of example is that for the kids?"

Sean just rolled his eyes and kissed her again this time slipping his tongue slightly into her mouth.

"Oh come on!" Jay yelled causing them to chuckle.

"I'll call you tonight." Sean told her letting go. Emma ran her hand down the side of his cheek.

Jay placed a kiss on the heads of both Manny and Dan before handing him back to his mother. They both said their last goodbyes before heading down to Sean's mustang before getting in and heading off. They all headed back into the house when they could no longer see the tail lights.

He stood across the street watching the displays of affection shared between the two couples. He got to see the little girl's reaction to her father leaving. He knew better than to mess with those two. No matter what happened they would wind up back together.

He paid more attention to the other couple. If he was lucky he would be able to have her as his long before the mechanic got back into town. He would take her and show her the mistake she made by choosing _him. _He would take everything the mechanic cared about and reduce him back to the worth scum he had been and always would be.

He smirked as he watched the men get into the car and leave. Two weeks. It would be just enough time for him.

He frowned as his cell phone rang again. He looked at the number and threw the phone down on the concrete before crushing it underneath his shoe. He didn't have time for _them._

**TBC...**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Hey all! Thank you so much for all your comments! They really help me get back on track when I'm having a hard time with the updates. Also I don't know how many of you have read Gangsta Redux and are waiting for an update but I've been having problems getting that story to where I want it to go. If anyone has any ideas feel free to email or pm me. Anyways on with the story.**

**Chapter 10**

When they got back in the house Mike went upstairs to play with his toy cars Snake and Spike had sent up to him. Just as he was taking them out of the toy box Alyssa came into the room and closed the door.

"Daddy says don't close the door." he said placing the toy cars on the carpet that looked like a race track.

Alyssa glared at him slightly and sat down on his bed. "Daddy's not here remember?"

"I don't think Momma will like the door being shut either." he told her sitting down on the carpet to play with his cars.

Alyssa just shrugged and pouted. "So?"

Mike rolled his eyes. "Daddy said be nice remember? I don't like making them mad at me anymore and I don't like making Momma sad either cuz then I get sad." he said rolling one of his cars around the carpet track.

"I don't think Daddy's coming home." she said softly as she laid down on her side.

Mike shook his head. "Daddy always comes home. Daddy won't leave us. Besides Uncle Jay will make him come back."

Alyssa smiled slightly at her brother. "I know how to make him come back. Come on!" she whispered excitedly as Mike shook his head.

"No I don't wanna do it." he told her. "I like having Momma here, I don't want her to go away again."

"Wouldn't you rather have Daddy here?" she asked folding her arms over her small chest.

"I like it now." he said holding up two of his cars. "Which do you think is better the blue car or the green one?"

Alyssa scoffed. "The green one silly. It looks cooler." she said joining him on the rug to play and slowly forgot about her plans to get their dad home sooner.

About an hour and half or so after they left the two boys pulled up in front of the small one story house that Ellie and Jesse owned. They got out of the car and noticed that Jesse's wasn't in the drive way. Wondering if anyone was home Sean walked up to the door and rang the door bell.

A couple minutes later after ringing the bell a second time Ellie opened the door. "Oh hey Sean." she said surprised. "I forgot you were coming down this week." she said running a hand through her hair. "Come on in." she said opening the door wide enough for them to enter the house.

Sean motioned for Jay to come on as he followed Ellie into her home. "You sure it's alright for us to stay here then El?" Sean asked looking around. "We could go stay with Spike and Snake."

"Yeah it's fine." she told him. "There's another room down the hall that one of you could sleep in and the couch pulls out."

Sean wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "Thanks El."

As Jay came into the house he saw them hugging. He noticed Ellie's small smile and her close her eyes as she breathed in his scent. He frowned and walked in the door. "Sean where do you want the laptop?" he asked causing the two to break apart.

"Uh just put it on the table along with the rest of the stuff." Sean told him before heading out to help finish unloading the car.

Jay sat the laptop case on the table along with a couple files. "So Ellie where's Jesse?" he asked her. "Didn't like the idea of your crush staying under the same roof?"

Ellie glared at him. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Jay chuckled. "Whatever you say. Just remember they are engaged and you're married. You can't touch him."

Ellie chuckled harshly. "You're insane Jason." she said as she heard Sophia start to fuss in the other room.

"And you're gonna lose Jesse if you haven't already." Jay shook his head sadly. "Five years later and you still can't keep a man."

Before she realized what she was doing Ellie raised her hand and smacked Jay across the face. "How Manny could stay with you after all this time amazes me. You are still the same despicable teenage boy you were in high school and you always will." she spat at him before going to check on the now screaming baby.

Jay was rubbing his sore jaw as Sean came back into the house carrying his bag. He raised an eyebrow in Jay's direction when he noticed the redness in is cheek.

Jay just shook his head. "Let's get the rest of the stuff inside. Mama Santos wants to see her favorite son-in-law."

Craig walked into the house that evening to find the two girls on the couch relaxing as they watched what looked to be some soap opera on television. He looked at his watch to see what time it was before looking back at the girls.

"What are you two doing?" he asked them.

Neither of the two girls looked over at him. "Watching T.V." Manny responded not moving her eyes from the drama show they were watching.

"So why aren't you going out and doing whatever it is girls do? Why are you just sitting here?" he asked sitting down on the arm of the lounge chair.

This time it was Emma that responded, "Normally either the guys or kids have the T.V. beside we don't have a babysitter."

"I'll baby-sit for you." he offered.

Manny looked over at him this time and raised an eyebrow. "All three of them?"

Craig nodded. "Yea. It can't be that hard." he replied and the two girls traded looks.

"Alright. Danny's sleeping but he'll probably be hungry when he wakes up. His food's in the pantry." Many said turning off the television and sitting up.

Emma nodded getting up of the couch. "And Mike and Alyssa are going to want dinner soon. Also depending on how long we're gone all three of them are going to need their baths."

Craig nodded. "Go I got this." he told them. Emma went upstairs to let the twins know that Craig was going to watch them leaving Manny alone with Craig.

She placed the baby monitor over by him. "Keep this near by that way you know when he wakes up." she told him as she stood up so she could get her shoes and purse. "His room is down the hall, first door on the left. He loves his stuff puppy that's in his crib. It was one of his birthday presents from Jay."

Craig stood up and placed his hand on Manny's shoulder. "I got this, alright. Just go have fun."

"You'll take care of him?" she asked still weary of leaving her little boy alone with someone she hadn't seen in years.

Craig nodded his head. "As if he was my own." he told her. "Now go." he said shooing her to the door as Emma came back downstairs.

Both of them walked out the door and as they were getting into Emma's car Manny realized something. "Did you remember to tell him about Mike's fear of strangers bathing him?"

"Oops?" she said as they pulled out of the driveway.

Craig turned around to see the twins standing on the steps. "Hey so what do you guys want for dinner?"

Mike glared up at him before looking him over. "We want pizza. And chocolate cake."

"And chocolate milk." Alyssa chimed in behind her brother.

Craig sighed as he went to look for the phone book to find the number for the pizza place. He would hopefully get them to change their minds about the cake, Emma would probably kill him if she came home and found them hyped up on sugar. He had a feeling he was in for a long night.

The girls were gone for about three hours while they went out to get something for dinner and stopped to treat themselves to manicures and pedicures before going home. They opened the door to find Craig tied up to the lounge chair and Alyssa and Mike sitting in front of the television playing one of Jay and Sean's video games.

Emma's jaw almost hit the floor when she saw the living room. "Michael Jason!" she yelled and noticed the boy's back straighten. "Alyssa Madison! What did you two do?" she asked as Manny worked at undoing the makeshift rope that was around Craig.

Mike turned around and pouted. "Sorry Momma." he said sounding unapologetic.

"Michael." Emma said sternly.

Mike pouted again and turned to Craig. "Sorry Craig." he said and went to help Manny untie him.

Alyssa tried to slink her way towards the stairs when Emma spotted her. "Alyssa help me clean up then we have to get you both ready for bed." Alyssa sighed and went to help her mother clean up their mess.

As soon as the living room was some what in order and Craig got the feeling back into his hands Emma had them apologize again before taking them up to get their baths.

"So how'd those two get you tied up?" Manny asked him.

Craig shook his head not wanting to remember what had happened. "They did it when I told them it was time for their bath. Why does Mike panic when it's bath time?"

Manny chuckled. "Something Jay told him about a year or so ago. Emma just recently got it to where he will let me or her bath him instead of one of the guys. Did Danny behave himself at least?"

Craig smiled at her. "Yea he was great. He's a really good kid."

Manny returned his smile. "Night Craig." she said before going to check on her son before going to lay down.

After giving the twins their baths Emma took them into their room to get them into their pajamas. Just as she finished helping Alyssa get her shirt over her head she heard her cell phone ring. "Hello?" she answered after she grabbed it off of their nightstand.

"Hello gorgeous." she heard the voice of her fiancé say on the other end.

"Hey baby. How are things in Toronto?" she asked him as the kids tried to grab the phone when they realized it was their dad she was talking to.

"Thing's are good. Jay's already pissed Ellie off and we went for dinner at Snake and Spike's after he got back from visiting Manny's parents." he told her.

"What'd Jay do to her?" Emma asked as she moved away from the twins.

She heard Sean sigh. "I don't know but it made everything tense for a bit. It'll probably blow over though." he said. "Anyways I just called to tell you all good night. Are the kids around?"

Emma told him to hold on and put the phone down in between the twins and turned it to speaker so they could say good night.

"Hi Daddy!" they said as Emma handed the phone to let Mike hold it.

"Hey are you guys being good for your mom?" he asked them.

He heard them giggle slightly. "We kinda tied up Uncle Craig." Mike told him. "But we told him we were sorry and I helped undo it."

Sean sighed on the other end and looked to see what time it was. "Well it's way past your bed time so hurry up and get in bed. I love you. Good night." he told them and they both returned it before Mike handed Emma back her phone and they both crawled into their beds.

Emma tucked them in before turning their nightlight on and walked out of the room. "I should probably get to bed too." she said as she went into their bedroom. "I miss you."

"I miss you, too, Em. So much." he told her. "I love you. Sweet dreams babe."

"Good night handsome. I love you." she said before hanging up.

Ellie came into the room just as Sean hung up with Emma. "Hey haven't gone to bed yet? Thought you'd be tired from driving." she asked sitting in the chair next to him.

"I tried but I've gotten used to having Emma next to me. Kinda hard to sleep without her you know." he told her and she nodded.

"Yea. It's hard when you've gotten used to somebody being there next to you." she said sadly remembering Jesse.

Sean turned to look at her. "What's going on with you and Jesse?" he asked her remembering he hadn't seen his friend's husband come home.

Ellie sighed. "We got into an argument a couple weeks ago and he went to stay with Marco and Eric for awhile." she told him.

Sean furrowed his brow slightly. "Everything okay?" he asked her and she shrugged.

"I don't know. He comes by to see Sophie but he doesn't really say anything to me." she responded.

He placed a hand on her shoulder and gently rubbed it. "You guys will be alright. You've been together too long not to be."

Ellie smiled slightly at him. "Thanks Sean." she said not hearing the front door open or notice Jay walk into see the exchange between the two. He frowned slightly and made a mental note to watch them while they were staying there.

**TBC...**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: So so so sorry for the long wait. I was hit with a major writer's block and have had a lot of distractions lately with school and work. Anyways enjoy the new chapter.**

**Chapter 11**

The next morning Ellie came out of her room to find her dining room table covered in paper work as Jay sat on the laptop looking at who knows what as Sean looked through the stack of papers as he bounced Sophia on his knee.

"Whoa when did the tornado hit my house?" she asked looking around the room as the guys looked over at her as Jay took a sip of his coffee.

Sean grinned sheepishly. "Sorry El, this is just a bunch of estimates about a bunch of sites. We'll clean it up when we're done." he said as she came over and took her daughter into her arms.

"So what do you guys want for breakfast?" she asked as she stepped into the kitchen to warm up the baby's bottle.

Jay drained the last bit of his coffee and stood up. "Actually we got to get going." he called to her as Sean raised an eyebrow at him. Jay just gave him a look. "We have that meeting at that place to get to remember?"

"Oh yea." Sean said as he looked for the address to where they had to meet the realtor. "See you later Ellie." he said as they headed out to the car.

They got in the car and Jay programmed the directions into the GPS system they had installed into it. "What was that about?" Sean asked them as they headed off to the first place on their list.

Jay looked over at his best friend. "You don't see it do you?"

Sean sighed and shook his head as he drove down the familiar streets of Toronto wondering what Jay had gotten in his head now. "Do I even want to know what you're talking about?"

"If you're not careful you're gonna wind up stuck in that old love triangle of yours all over again." Jay said as he cranked up the radio.

Sean quickly turned it back off. "Again what are you talking about? Ellie is married if you remember and I'm engaged. Why would that happen again?"

Jay just chuckled to himself. "If you can't see it dude your blind. Just remember I warned you." he said turning the radio back on and stared out the window.

Craig walked down the stairs and found Manny getting Daniel into his stroller to go out for the day before going to put a couple of his toys in the diaper bag. "Where are you two headed off to this early?" he asked her ruffling Daniel's hair making him giggle.

"Off to look at some of the houses down the street. I'd rather do it with Jay here but he had to go with Sean." she said as she put the bag underneath the stroller. "Don't really like the idea of picking out our home without him."

Craig turned away from Daniel and looked at her. "If you want I could go with you?" he offered as he went back to making faces at Danny.

Manny waved him off. "No I'm just going to look. I'm not really going to make a decision without him. Besides if I wanted someone to come with me I would've woken up Emma."

"Are you sure? I don't have anything to do. My manager's taking care of everything now." he told her.

Manny sighed softly. "If you want to I guess another opinion would be good."

"Alright!" Craig grinned as he slapped hands with Daniel before taking him out of his stroller and lifted him up onto his shoulders.

Manny shushed him hoping he hadn't woken the twins as she chuckled. She grabbed a couple more things and her purse before they headed out the door to walk around the neighborhood.

Mike was laying in his bed sleeping with his stuffed tiger wrapped tightly in his arms and his blanket pulled tight around him to where all you could see was his light brown hair that had been mussed from his tossing and turning in his sleep. He was lost in his dreams when he heard something crash.

He quickly opened his eyes to see Alyssa going through their closet. He yawned and wiped his eyes. "What are you doing?" he asked her.

"I'm looking for something." she told him as she climbed out of the pile of old clothes that had fallen out of the closet.

He sighed sadly as he got out of his bed and went over to where she was. "What are you looking for?" he asked as he yawned.

"Yes!" she shrieked as she found what she was looking for and came out of the closet.

Mike looked at her and just shook his head. "Momma's not gonna be happy Aly."

Alyssa rolled her eyes at her brother. "So?" she said putting her prize on her head.

He shook his head and took it from her. "And that's mine. And that's my shirt. Hey why are you taking my stuff?" he asked sounding angry.

"It's part of my plan Mikey." she told him looking in the mirror.

He just shook his head. "Why do you not like Momma? She hasn't done anything to us."

"I love Mommy but she's gonna leave again Mikey. She's gonna make Daddy sad again." Alyssa told him unaware of the person standing in the doorway. "And I don't like it when Daddy's sad."

Emma knocked softly on the door frame to alert them to her presence. "Morning sleepy heads." she said walking over to them and hugged both of them as she sat down. "So what do you want for breakfast?"

Mike looked up at her as he raised an eyebrow. "But what about that?" he asked pointing to the clothes that were still on the floor.

Emma shrugged and picked Alyssa up in her arms. "We'll clean it up later. Come on." she said headed out the door as Mike's little jaw almost hit the floor. Emma always made them straighten their room up first before breakfast.

"You coming Mikey?" He quickly followed them down to the kitchen.

The two men got to the site about ten minutes before the realtor was supposed to meet them and walked around the outside of the small garage. As they were walking around Sean noticed a faded sign above the garage doors.

"Hey man is that what I think it is?" Sean asked pointing it out to Jay.

Jay looked up at it in slight shock before shaking his head. "It couldn't be dude. No way." he said as the realtor pulled into the parking lot.

"Good morning gentlemen." he said greeting the both of them and extended his hand for them to shake. "I'm Greg Hartley and you do not know how glad I am to being doing business with the both of you. You ready to take a look inside?" he asked them.

They nodded and he led them inside the building. "Now some of the equipment in here would probably would have to be replaced and you would have to get it back upto code." he told them as they walked through the garage area before heading back to the offices.

"How long's this place been empty?" Jay asked Greg as he wiped a layer of dust off the desk.

Greg looked at the file he had on the building. "It was foreclosed on almost a year and a half ago. They started losing a lot of business after awhile. It's sad really, Tony was an amazing mechanic."

The two boys looked at each other. "Did you say Tony?" Sean asked him his voice catching in his throat.

Greg nodded. "Did you know him?"

"We worked for him the summer before we moved to Wasaga." Jay told him sitting down in the old chair.

Greg smiled slightly. "So you're the boys that ran him out of business." he said and they both slightly hung their heads. "The day they closed the place he told me he never thought he'd see those two idiots would run him out of business. He was proud of you both."

They both sat there in shock. "Have you seen enough or would you like to just sign the deal?" Greg asked them.

Sean looked over at Jay before turning back to him. "T.there's still a few more places we'd like to look but we'll give you a call." he stuttered slightly as he motioned for Jay to follow him out.

After they were back out of the empty garage Jay shook his head. "I can't believe this is Tony's garage."

"Can't believe we ran him out of business." Sean said as they got back in the car.

Not too long after Emma fixed the twins breakfast they went back upstairs to get dressed and she went to help them get their things put back into their closet. After the toys were put back in their spots Emma decided it would be a good idea to go through the old clothes that had fallen out.

"So who's is this?" she asked holding up a bright lime green pair of shorts.

Mike grinned happily. "Those are mine! Auntie Manny bought 'em for me. Daddy put them away though. He said something about his son not wearing bright colors."

Emma smiled as she nodded and put them in his pile on the floor as she picked up a white dress with little blue flowers on it.

"Nana made it for me. I like that dress 'cause it's not as frilly." Alyssa said softly as she looked down at her feet causing Emma to smile slightly.

She laid the dress down in the pile of Alyssa's clothes. "What do you think about doing something special for when Daddy comes back?"

Their little eyes widened. "Like what?" Mike asked her sounding excited.

"Help get this all put away and I'll tell you." she told them and the three of them quickly put away the clothes that still fit and put some of the ones that no longer fit in a neat pile to give to Daniel.

Just as Emma was about to close the door she spotted something she hadn't seen in years. She grabbed the old black hat and dusted it off before handing it to Mike. "I don't think this should be kept in there. What do you think?"

Mike smiled at her as he set it on the shelf. "It's still too big right now." Emma smiled and kissed the top of his head as Alyssa frowned.

After looking at a couple houses that Manny had decided against she and Craig who was pushing the stroller went onto the next block to find the last house on Manny's list. This time she had called the realtor's number and she was waiting by the door as they walked up the drive way.

She let them into the house and the inside nearly took Manny's breath away. There was a small staircase leading to the second floor in the foyer where they were standing while off to the left was a fully furnished living room with a leather sofa and lounge chair along with an entertainment center that Jay would be sure to mess with if they bought the house.

Off to the right of the foyer was the kitchen and dining room. The realtor took them upstairs and showed them the two small bedrooms that were up there along with the master bedroom with the adjoining bathroom. The realtor left the three of them alone.

"Wow this house is amazing!" Manny shrieked happily. "There's enough space for Danny to have his own room and the twins too when they come over."

She looked in the bathroom and shrieked again causing Craig to go in to see what was wrong. "We'd even have our own enclosed shower and a Jacuzzi." she grinned happily. "This is it! Jay's gonna be so excited!" she said taking Dan away from Craig as they went downstairs where she was waiting on them.

"So what do you think?" she asked them as Manny put the boy back in his stroller.

"I think it's amazing." Manny replied and the realtor nodded.

"This house is the perfect place for a couple like you starting your family." she said causing Manny's eyes to go wide and she stared at her in shock. "So will you be buying it today?"

"M..me and him...we aren't..." she stuttered as Craig extended his hand for the realtor to shake.

"We'll get back to you." he said leading the still shell shocked Manny out of the house.

As son as the door closed she exploded. "I can't believe she thought we were married!" she glared at him. "I can't believe you LET her think that!"

Craig just shrugged. "So? It wouldn't be that hard to believe now would it?"

Manny slapped him hard across the face. "I am married to Jay now. I love him. You mean nothing to me now alright. Whenever this stupid concert of yours is over you can run on back to Ashley," the mention of that name caused his eyes to cloud over. "or whatever roadie of the week you're doing." she said before grabbing the stroller and walking back to the house.

Craig sneered as she walked off and pulled out his new cell phone. He'd put an end to that marriage if it was the last thing he did.

**TBC...**


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

The next night Jay was in the kitchen cooking after another meeting with another realtor at another empty garage. Sean was back on the laptop this time emailing Emma as he looked over the site trying to look for another potential home of C & H Custom Cars.

"Jay what do you think of this?" Sean asked turning the laptop for him to see as Ellie taste tested Jay's pasta sauce while he wasn't looking.

He clicked the picture icons to bring them up to show Jay who just shook his head. "No way! I've gotten used to not going into places crawling with cockroaches. That place looks worse than the one we saw earlier. At least that one had the lifts." he said as he glared at Ellie when he caught her sneaking bits of pasta.

Sean sighed. "It's not like there's anything else Jay and we can't afford to build from scratch either." he said finishing up his email to Emma before closing the laptop.

"Why don't we just get Tony's old place? It'd be our best bet." Jay told him shooing Ellie away from the stove as someone knocked on the front door.

Sean shook his head. "We can't buy that place. It'd be weird going back in there again." he said as Ellie opened the door to see who had arrived.

When she opened the door she saw Jesse standing there on the other side of the door. "Hey." she said smiling slightly as she tried to tune out the arguing in the kitchen. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to spend time with our daughter." he said as she let him into the house.

"Oh okay." she said closing the door behind him. "Why don't you stay for dinner? Jay made some sort of pasta. I'm sure there'll be enough for another person."

Jesse sighed. "Sure." he said taking off his jacket as he heard Sophia start to fuss and started to go get her until Ellie stepped in front of him.

"Go say hi to the guys. I'll get her." she said going to get the baby as Jesse walked into the kitchen to see Jay at the stove and Sean with his head on the island.

"Hey guys." he said quietly not really wanting to be in the same room as Sean.

Jay looked over from what he was doing. "Hey man. Where've you been?" he asked searching the cabinets.

"Just been staying with Marco and Eric for a bit." he said looking to see what Jay had made for dinner.

Sean picked his head up of the island. "I heard about what happened between you and El, man. Sorry."

"Of course you are." Jesse muttered going over to get something to drink out of the refrigerator. "So how's the garage search going?" he asked them causing them both to groan.

"We've found a few places but nothing worth it." Sean replied as Jay glared at him.

"We have found a place but he refuses to buy it." he said as Ellie came back into the room with Sophia now wide awake.

"Okay guys save the business talk for after dinner." she said sitting the baby in her high chair. "I'm starved."

Emma was in the kitchen putting the finishing touches on dinner for herself and the twins. She had decided on just making grilled cheese and soup for them and had just finished up when they came running through the kitchen playing tag.

"Hey guys. Ready to eat?" she asked them coming around and helping them sit down in the chairs around the small kitchen table.

"Yea!" they said as she put their small bowls of soup in front of them both and put a plate with a sandwich each next to them.

Alyssa looked at Mike's as he dug in and furrowed her brow when she saw hers. "Mommy you forgot to cut the crustie part off mine." she told her picking at it.

Emma looked over at her. "I'm sorry baby girl. I didn't mean to." she said going to get a knife before cutting the crust off of Alyssa's sandwich. "There you go." she kissed the top on her daughter's blond head and took her seat across from them.

She picked it up and took a bite before sitting it back down. "What's wrong? I thought you liked grilled cheese?" Emma asked her.

"I do but I like the way Uncle Jay make it for us." she said sadly.

Mike swallowed before speaking. "Her's is good too, Aly." he told her happily munching away.

Alyssa folded her arms over her chest. "I miss Daddy and Uncle Jay." she murmured.

Emma sighed softly so neither of them could hear her. "Tell you what, you eat about half of that and we can call Daddy when we're done so you can talk to him."

Alyssa sighed sadly and slowly picked at her dinner as Mike started rambling on about something he did that day.

They were all sitting around the table enjoying the meal Jay had cooked and laughing at something Sean had just said. At least Jay and Ellie were, Jesse sat that with his brow furrowed through out the meal.

"So Sean how does Emma feel about you possibly having to uproot your entire family for this new garage of yours?" Jesse asked him taking a drink out of his wine glass.

Sean just shrugged. "We haven't really talked about it yet but I don't think we will have to uproot everything there when the new place opens."

Jesse chuckled. "Really? But you're going to have to be here to get the place off the ground before it even opens and still once it opens to make sure everything runs smoothly." he chuckled harshly. "Does Emma like the fact that you're going to be spending more time with your ex than with your fiancé and your children?"

"Jesse!" Ellie softly scolded him wondering what was bringing this attitude of his out tonight.

Sean furrowed his brow. "No I'm not. It's going to be ran from the home base in Wasaga. Neither me or Jay will be here very much once the place is open."

Jesse just shook his head at him as he took another drink of wine. "Whatever you say just keep your hands off my wife. I know all about what happened to start this and trust me it won't happen again." he said glaring at Sean.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Sean asked outraged.

Ellie grabbed Jesse by the arm. "Come on Jesse. I think it might be best for you to leave, you can take Soph tomorrow night." she said leading him towards the door.

"This isn't over Cameron!" The two men at the table heard and traded looks. Jay just shook his head as if to say 'I told you so' and Sean sighed.

**TBC...**

**A/N:** Yes, yes I know its short and its been a while. Sadly I have been very well writers blocked on this story and pretty much all my Degrassi fics. I've been trying to over come it but I've got a lot going on in my head right now, mostly ideas for new fics some of which aren't for Degrassi but my new found love, Instant Star. Anyways so sorry its been so long and please, please if anyone has any ideas or anything they'd like to see happen in here please feel free to say in your review, or pm me with it.

- **Lexxie**


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N:** I'm sorry it took so long to get this up and I'm sorry its so short but I haven't been able to write anything and finish it since the last chapter I posted. I wasn't even going to post again until I could get something good but as today is the one year anniversary of the Secrets series I wanted to put something up. Enough of my rambling, here you go the newest chapter.

**Chapter 13**

Sean was in the kitchen loading up the dishwasher not too long after Jesse had left. The words he said were on constant repeat in his mind. He hadn't really thought about what opening this new garage would mean it came to his family.

Emma had already changed schools once to come be with him, he would uproot everything the twins had ever known. And Jay? He had gotten a fresh start there in Wasaga Beach, how could he have even though about forcing his best friend, his brother into coming back to a town that hated him.

He sighed as he closed the dishwasher and leaned against the counter. Maybe it would be better for them to just pack up and head home. Put this project of his off and help Emma with the planning for the wedding.

The ringing of his cell phone broke him out of his thoughts. He reached into his pocket and pulled it out. "Hello?"

"Hi Daddy." he heard the soft voice of his daughter on the other end and smiled slightly.

"Hi angel, shouldn't you be getting ready for bed?" he asked her looking at his watch.

He heard Alyssa sigh. "Maybe." she said softly. "When are you coming home Daddy?" she asked him.

"What you miss me already?" he jokingly asked.

"Yes." she said seriously. "Come home please?" she whimpered.

His daughter's pleas made up his mind for him. "I'll be home soon alright? Now go get ready for bed. I love you baby girl."

"Okay. Love you, night Daddy." she said before hanging up. Sean ran a hand through his hair and headed into the living room where he and Jay had moved all of their work. He started packing the files into the box they had gotten them out of as Jay came out of the spare room Ellie had offered to let him sleep in.

Jay seen what he was doing and raised an eyebrow. "Man what are you doing?" he asked as Sean put the lid on the box.

"Packing. We're going home." he told him taking the box and sitting it next to the door.

Jay's eyes widened. "What? We haven't even found a shop yet." he said surprised.

"This was a mistake coming back here." Sean told him. "We're better off staying in Wasaga."

Jay sighed and shook his head. "No we aren't." he said. "What's better coming back here and showing this town what we became or letting them think we're still the seventeen year old screw-ups that left town?" he asked Sean. "I think we should stick it out. Let them see the twenty-one year old business men and fathers we've both become."

Sean ran a hand through his hair and stopped packing up their stuff they had brought with them. "What if Jesse's right, man? I can't lose her Jay."

Jay shrugged. "So what if he is? What if Jesse walked out of here and got hit by a car? What if this new garage thing blows big time? What if Dan and Mike grow up to act like we did? You keep asking yourself those type of questions you'll drive yourself crazy."

Sean sat down in the chair next to the couch and smirked at him. "When did you get so smart?" Jay glared at him and threw a pillow at his head.

He stood outside of the house and watched as they went about their nightly rituals of getting the kids in bed. He watched the blond one chase two hyper kids bundled up in towels up the stairs before focusing his attention to the reason he was there.

He walked around to the back of the house to look into the small toddler's bedroom. He watched as she laid the boy down in his crib before kissing him goodnight. She turning his nightlight on before turning out his lamp and leaving the room.

He looked at the small boy lying in the crib and smirked. It wouldn't be long now. They'd be his soon.

TBC...


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

The next morning Jay rolled off the couch to find Sean pacing the length of the hallway with his cell phone glued to his ear. He yawned and shook his head trying to hear who his friend was talking to.

"Yes sir. That's amazing. Yes we can be there in an hour." he heard Sean say with excitement in his voice. "Thank you. You too, sir. We'll see you then." he said before hanging up and turning to where Jay was sitting.

He yawned again. "Who was that?"

Sean smiled. "That was the realtor selling Tony's. He's drawing up the contract. We have to meet them there in an hour."

Jay's eyes widened. "Seriously?" he asked as Ellie appeared with Sophie in her arms.

"What's going on?" she asked the two of them noticed the excited looks on their faces.

Sean grinned at her. "You're looking at the new owners of Tony's garage."

"Soon to be C & H custom cars Toronto branch." Jay added.

"That's awesome guys." she said hugging Sean with one arm and placing a kiss on his cheek. "Let me make you breakfast before you head out." she said going into the kitchen.

Jay shot a look at Sean after watching them. Sean just shrugged as Jay shook his head before following her. If Sean intended to ruin his life while they were here there was no way Jay could stop him.

Manny woke up that same morning to the sound of the alarm clock blaring on the night stand. She turned it off before rolling over and sighing. She'd have to call Jay to find out when they might be coming home. Their bed was too cold, too big without him there by her side.

She sighed before getting out of bed and walking over to Dan's room where he was already wide awake standing in his crib. She smiled at the sight of her little boy who looked more like his father everyday. Except his bright, brown eyes, those he got from her.

"Good morning baby boy." she said quietly lifting him out of his crib.

He giggled and placed a sloppy kiss on her check. "Mama. Where Dada?"

She placed a soft kiss on his dark hair as she carried him into the kitchen. "Dada will be home soon, Danny boy." she said sitting him in his high chair so she could get his breakfast. Just as she sat his bowl of cereal in front of him she heard someone come in through the front door which was quite weird as she remembered locking the front door before going to bed.

She looked over to see Craig walking into the kitchen making faces at Dan to make him laugh as he dug his little hands into his Cheerios. "How did you get in here?" she asked him.

He barely turned his eyes toward her as he took the seat next to the high chair. "You have the spare key under the plant next to the door."

She went over to the refrigerator walking him carefully as she did. "How did you know where it was?" she asked opening it up to get out the ingredients to make breakfast.

She heard him laugh as she went about getting the pans out of the cabinet. "I seen you use it remember? So what are you fixing?"

Manny was just about to question him more until she heard the sounds of her little niece and nephew running into the kitchen with Emma following behind them.

Not too long after Sean got off of the phone with the realtor they were standing in the old garage they had once worked in.

Greg picked up the signed contract to put it back into his bag. "Well, boys, it had been a pleasure dealing with you and I hope your business takes off well here in Toronto." he said shaking both of their hands before walking out of the empty garage.

Sean let out a deep breath as he looked around the building. "We did it." he said quietly. "We did it!"

"Yea you boys did." he heard from behind him and both Jay and himself turned to see who it was.

"Tony man you're okay with this?" Jay asked him.

Tony grinned at the two of them. "When they kicked me outta here I told 'em I wanted to meet with the new owners when they finally sold the place."

Sean and Jay traded looks. "Now I don't want you boys to worry about me alright, me and Jenna are still doin' good and I found somethin' else to do with my free time." he said walking over to them and placing a hand on each of their shoulders. "You boys made me proud, don't you be ashamed of that alright?" he grinned at them.

"Thanks Tony." Sean told him gratefully as Tony smiled at him.

"You're welcome, kid. Now get outta here and go celebrate with your wives and kids." The two men shook their mentor's hand one more time before heading out of their new garage. They both had phone calls to make.

TBC...


End file.
